


Found

by MarilynnRae



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Aunt Natasha Romanov, BAMF Pepper Potts, F/M, Family Fluff, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Penny Parker Twin, Pepper Potts as Rescue, Peter Parker Has a Twin, Peter Parker is Pepper Potts's Biological Child, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-08-13 05:10:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20168701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarilynnRae/pseuds/MarilynnRae
Summary: Peter and Penny Stark were loved and adored by their parents, but someone had to take them away from their parents when they were just four years old. Ten years later they're reunited. Everyone had scars from the last ten years: emotionally, mentally, and physically.With the help of each other and the rest of the team they learn to become a family and heal together.





	1. Chapter 1

The sun pouring into through the windows woke him and he didn’t feel the need to shy away from it like he had for the last decade of his life from various hangovers. Instead he basked in the warmth that spread over the silk sheets and reached absently toward the other side of the bed.

But it was empty.

Slowly opening his eyes, he frowned. Another part of his life that had changed in the last year; he hated waking up to an empty bed. Before this he wouldn’t even allow his “guests” to sleep in his bed. Their business was always done in a guest room and Tony would leave them there to return to his own room. 

His room was his own private space. A space he did not want anyone to invade. A space that he now shared with Pepper. 

That was more surprising to as it was to anyone else. Never did he think that he would be in a relationship, much less one that could probably be considered healthy. He didn’t drink like he used to anymore, he gave up the pills and the playboy act, instead he was just Tony and that was enough for both of them. 

Sure, they had their fights. He would spend too much time tinkering, blow off board meetings and his responsibilities at SI, never sleep enough, but she was happy with him still. She loved him. He loved her. Oh, God, did he love her. 

“Pep?” he called, his voice husky from sleep as he tossed the sheet off. He could hear her movement in the adjoining bathroom. She must have been getting ready for some meeting that she knew he had no interest in. Smiling to himself, he decided he’d join her. 

Taking lazy steps across the floor, eyes half closed still from sleep, he nearly crashed into her as the door slid open. Catching her by her elbows, he noticed her shoulders shaking and her breathing erratic. 

“Pepper, honey?” his heart plummeted as she choked on a sob and pressed her face into his chest. He had seen her cry before, but never like this. At her own mother’s funeral the year before she stood composed and shed only a few tears. “Pepper, what’s wrong?”

She let out another sob as it seemed to take all the power she had to look up at him. “Tony,” she lifted her hand, revealing a plastic stick. “I’m pregnant.”

Once the shock wore off, the excitement set it. It seemed simple enough. Tony loved Pepper and there was absolutely no way she would let him turn into a father like his own father. She was too important and just the feeling of how much he loved their baby growing inside her told him that there was no chance of him being cold and detached like his father before him. 

Twelve weeks and it was their first ultrasound. He had heard the baby’s heartbeat already and had he not been sitting down he may have fainted. It was all overwhelming but in a way that was not at all bad. 

“And we can tell people after today,” Tony stated suddenly coming out of his thoughts checking his watch for the dozenth time. 

Absolutely no work was getting done. He had sat at his desk since he arrived, screening phone calls and watching the clock. The only partially productive thing he had done change his desktop background to a more recent image of him and Pepper. According to Pepper that was not actually productive in the least.

The appointment wasn’t until eleven. How was he going to make it another hour when he was already bouncing in his seat? 

The pointed look Pepper gave him was one of exhaustion and fondness. “No. We can tell Rhodey and Happy. We’re not just telling anyone. The last thing I want is the press getting word of a Stark heir growing inside your assistant.”

The last words came out with distaste that made Tony frown at her. He knew that she was thinking of it from a PR stand point but hated when she said such things about herself. They had worked together for two years, been together for a year, but it was enough for both of them to know that these were not passing feelings. 

He pulled her off the corner of his desk and into his lap, grinning at her squeal of surprise. 

“We could get married. That way the Stark heir is growing in my wife.”

Despite her stern glare, he could see something soft in her gaze. “I don’t think I want to deal with that PR nightmare either. You marrying your pregnant assistant.” 

Tony huffed and frowned, looking like a scolded child as he still held her across his lap. Pepper took pity on him, her hand gently caressing his cheek as she smiled down at him softly. “I’m sure I’ll marry you. Just not when I’m pregnant. Not when you ask as the most unromantic suggestion ever.”

That seemed to brighten him up at least a little as he glanced at the time once again making Pepper groan and move off his lap. “Alright. We will go. Maybe Layla can get us in early since she’s a friend.”

“And I’m a billionaire,” Tony added as he grabbed Pepper’s wrist and jumped toward the door. 

“You know, that line is not attractive—will you slow down? I need my bag!”

Doctor Layla Gordon was a tall woman with a dark tan and a head of long dark curls. Before Pepper, Tony would have definitely looked twice, but now he was much too busy looking ever pamphlet they had set out in the examine room. 

They were kind enough to get them back to the examine room immediately, but while Pepper answered e-mails he looked over the pamphlets. 

Miscarriage and Early Pregnancy Loss  
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome  
Pre-Eclampsia  
Placental Abruptions

Tony felt sick. He hadn’t really thought about all the things that could go wrong until there were literally dozens of little papers in front of him provide how he could lose his wife and baby. 

Wait, not his wife. Not his wife, but his significant other (because Pepper detested the word girlfriend). Hell, either way he was going to spend the rest of his life with her and he needed her life to be long. He needed that. He needed Pepper Potts to outlive him. He needed this kid to outlive him by a hundred years. 

“Tony?”

Pepper’s voice had him turning to him. Her brows were pulled together in concern. “Are you alright?”

Swallowing thickly, he looked toward Dr. Gordon. “Oh, yeah. Definitely, but uh, why the terrifying wall art?” He gestured toward the reading material.

The expression on Pepper’s face softened as she took his hand in hers. Layla, however, chuckled softly. “You’re not the first father to ask me that and I’m sure you won’t be the last. It’s more for people who have been through these conditions or they are at risk for them. SIDS is always a pamphlet to read up on, however, as we still don’t know a lot about why it happens. However, the rest I would only send home with you if there were extenuating circumstances.”

Her words did seem to put Tony at ease as Pepper gave him a fond smile, her thumb caressing the back of his hand softly. 

“But what do you say we get some pictures of this baby Stark?” she motioned for Pepper to move onto the table. 

His heart fluttered as he watched Pepper get comfortable and pull up her shirt to reveal her slightly swollen abdomen. It was hardly noticeable but Tony loved how it was just a little rounded now compared to how it used to be completely flat. 

Layla spoke as she worked, putting gel on the wand and looking up at the screen. “So today you will get pictures of your baby, as well as get a definitive due date and know how many weeks along you are. Don’t worry, hun, we keep the gel warm here. We aren’t heathens.”

Pepper giggled as she kept her eyes glued to the screen. Tony stood up and moved closer, standing right next to her head as they waited for something to show up that resembled a baby. So far it just looked like static. 

“I could tell you not to bother looking until I tell you, but I know you’re just going to stare anyway. It’ll be a minute until I broadcast onto the screen you can see. I got to get a good visual, make sure everything is working well on my end before-“

Layla stopped midsentence effectively ripping both parents’ gazes away from the screen and to the doctor. Oh dear God, we’re getting a pamphlet, Tony immediately though, his heart plummeting to his stomach as Layla seemed to be concentrating exceedingly hard, clicking on the ultrasound machine and moving the wand across Pepper’s belly.

Pepper’s hand found Tony’s, a sure sign that her own anxiety was growing as she watched her doctor and friend work. 

It seemed like an eternity when realistically it had probably been less than a minute before Layla looked back at them, turning her whole body toward them with a huge smile. “Well, it seems you’re a bit further along that twelve weeks. Actually, you’re about sixteen weeks which means if you’d like I can tell you the sex today.”

That made both of them light up like a Christmas tree. They had already decided they wanted to know. Tony was not one for surprises and Pepper always like to be prepared, so knowing the sex was a surprise but a grand one. 

“Oh yes!” Pepper squeaked, her eyes shining with tears as she glanced up to Tony. “We would love to know.”

Layla smiled and looked back at the monitor. “Well, it’s easy to say Baby A is a boy.” 

Tony burst out into a joyous laugh. “I knew it! I knew it would be a boy!” He leaned closer to Pepper’s stomach, talking to it. “I knew you were a boy.” Pepper was laughing joyously at him as they slowly came to realize what else Layla had said. 

“Baby…A?” Pepper gave her friend a hesitant look as Layla took the opportunity to flip on the screen for them both to see the image of two babies. Two. Their heads right next to one another as they laid parallel. 

For a moment, Pepper and Tony just stared. Watching at the little babies laid there in black and white grainy imaging. The baby on top stretched its little legs and wiggled, immediately making the baby below it wiggle. 

“Your little boy is this one,” she pointed to the baby on the bottom who was recently disturbed by his sibling. “And this is your little girl.” Pepper choked on a sob as she continued to stare at the screen, clutching Tony’s hand to her cheek. “Congrats, Mom and Dad. You’re having twins.”

Layla rolled her chair over to the wall of pamphlets and handed one to Tony. Pregnancies of Multiples

Peter James Stark and Penelope Maria Stark were born on a rainy day in April. They were born right at 37 weeks, which Layla had been proud of with Pepper’s slight frame. It was official, they did it. They were parents of twins. 

But their lives as parents were cut short when four years later there was an accident.

Everyone in their lives had been vetted. Background checks, credit checks, references, everything that could have been done had been done. No shortcuts when it came to the safety of their children. Yet, somehow it still happened. Somehow someone still got to their children.

Obadiah had insisted both Pepper and Tony needed to be at the dinner. After all it was a formal event for their investors and board members, it was only appropriate that the CEO/owner and his wife were both there to shake hands and smile.

It wasn’t by any means the first time they had left the twins with their part-time nanny. Isabella was a wonderful woman and the children adored her. While Tony and Pepper insisted on doing the majority of the parenting themselves, realistically their jobs required them to have a nanny. They paid her well for discretion and to keep a flexible schedule for them. 

They were having a perfectly fine time. The hour was getting late and Tony knew that their obligation to stay was waning. At 11:21 P.M. Tony and Pepper’s phones went off a blaring alarm that meant it was an emergency alert from JARVIS. Their home was on fire.

The home itself was hard to burn with the amount of technology Tony had dumped into it, but there had been a point to the first on the second floor: to cover the security cameras in smoke. 

Isabella was found dead from smoke inhalation despite the rather contained fire and the twin four year olds were gone without a trace. 

They waited for the ransom demand, ready to pay whatever was asked to get their children back, but nothing came. 

At first Tony and Pepper clung to each other for support, then the dove into their separate work letting their missing children become a wedge in their marriage. But when Afghanistan happened they quickly realized that they still needed each other to survive in this world. That this world was cruel and that their love kept them breathing when everything was falling down around them. 

Then… ten years almost to the day from when they lost them, they found them again…

Pepper lounged across the sofa. Her pencil skirt and blouse from earlier that day was already discarded and replaced with jeans and a comfy shirt, her hair loose over her shoulders. It was Tuesday, the night they decidedly had off together to just relax and have take out. If they didn’t decide on a day to do nothing, they would only see each other in bed and at work. Their once a week nothingness allowed them to unwind together. It was a tradition for years now suggested to them by their therapist. 

Chinese takeout was on the menu tonight, their usual from their usual place, and then probably a movie. It all sounded incredibly mundane but it was very much looked forward to by the both of them. They would cuddle up on the couch, eat, abandon dishes for the morning as they made out like teenagers and stumbled to their bedroom to finish off their evening.

It was predicable but perfect.

Tony handed her the plate as she absently chose a movie that they wouldn’t be paying a lot of attention to. 

“How was your day?” she asked her husband, cuddling into his side. He had learned how to eat with her up against him, a fork in one hand and a plate in the other long ago. 

“Long, but not bad,” he replied with a smile taking a bite of noodles. “Yours?”

At his age learning manners was simply a lost cause. 

Pepper nodded absently. “The same.”

And that was that. After over a decade and a half together silence was comfortable and inviting. They didn’t need to talk to keep the comfort, they just were comfortable. 

Pepper didn’t even realize she had dozed off until she heard FRIDAY chime in above her. “Boss, I feel the need to alert you that Protocol has been activated in my system. Happy Hogan is set to arrive in fifteen minutes.”

Protocol Milk Carton?

The speed at which Tony stood up almost had Pepper on the floor. She barely caught herself as she whipped her head around to see Tony opening his laptop on the bar, a look of determination and confusion mixed on his face. 

“FRIDAY, are you sure? Where are you getting the information at?” he demanded. 

Pepper just continued to stare at him, knowing better than to interrupt the conversation based on his tone.

“Police prescient in Queens, New York, Boss. Finger prints matching Peter James Stark and Penelope Maria Stark were just ran through the system.”

That had Pepper on her feet all but running to Tony’s side. “Penelope and Peter?” she asked, her voice breathless as she watched his fingers work against the keyboard. Knowing her husband he was probably doing something illegal. Hell, he was probably hacked into the FBI database if FRIDAY was able to alert them before the police did that their children’s finger prints were just ran.

“I’m calling Maria Hill,” Pepper said immediately as she grabbed her purse.

“I’ll call Happy. No way we’re waiting until he gets here. We’re leaving now.”

For the second time in a year they were sitting in police station, however the situation was drastically different. Last time everyone had been so kind to them. Two muggers shot and killed their aunt and uncle right in front of them on their way home from the store. They had been scared, devastated, everything in them hurt with an emotional pain they had never felt before. Every officer in there had looked at them with kind eyes, offered them kind words of understanding, patted them on the backs and told them they were going to be okay.

This time there was no kindness.

Peter held tightly onto Penny’s hand as they waited for their social worker, both their right hands tipped with black ink from the printing. No matter how many times Peter opened his mouth to try to explain the situation he could hear the yells of his foster father calling him a liar before they were both dragged out in handcuffs.

Assault. They could go to juvie. That’s what the officer kept telling them on the way to the station. Peter knew Jack wasn’t going to press chargers and send them to juvie, he just wanted them to shut up. One teacher asked Penny too many questions about what was going on at home and Jack Jr overheard. 

It only took Jack a couple of drinks to start getting angry at Penny for not being fast enough with dinner. Peter tried to get between them but he was determined. Honestly, Peter didn’t mean to hurt him and he probably didn’t that bad, but one shove made him catch his head on the end of the coffee table. Of course, he had to go and say that Penny was involved too. At least they were together.

“We’re going to be okay,” Penny stated with sheer determination. Her voice was soft so that the officers didn’t hear them. She didn’t want them to start lecturing them again on what sort of lifestyle they were choosing. “We’re going to get through this.”

Peter nodded as he watched a large man in handcuffs get escort past them. Tattoos on his neck and face. What would May and Ben say if they could see them now? At least the officers had been kind enough to take the handcuffs off. 

“We’ll probably just get placed somewhere else. Maybe even someplace nicer,” Peter offered, trying to hop on the train of optimism his sister was on. 

“Some place with a dog.”

“Some place with heat in our rooms.”

The both chuckled lightly but there was no real humor in it. In a year they had been to four foster homes. Each one worse than the last. The things they had seen, the things that had been done to them. They were already counting down the days until they were eighteen.

Often they discussed just running away and living on their own. But they were fourteen. Sure they were rather unique fourteen year olds but fourteen none the less. They couldn’t likely survive a winter in New York on the street. 

“Holy shit, is that Tony Stark?”

Their super hearing had both of them scanning the room at one of the officer’s hushed whispers. Sure enough, they saw the billionaire himself charging into the room looking like he owned the place with Pepper Potts-Stark at his heels. They could have overlooked them at first, after all they weren’t wearing the usual perfectly pressed suits and skirts that they always wore on TV. In fact, Tony Stark wasn’t even wearing his signature sunglasses. Nope, they just looked like normal, regular humans.

“What a day to get arrested,” Penny teased, bumping her brother’s shoulder as they unabashedly stared at the couple arguing with an older balding man. Had the room not been so busy they would have most certainly been eavesdropping.

“Sure, yeah, we may go to juvie but at least we were thirty feet away from Tony Stark for two minutes, right?” Peter scoffed sarcastically giving his sister a glare. 

She rolled her eyes at him and glanced back at the couple only to see them now staring back at them. She blinked as she did a quick glance behind her. No, they were definitely looking at them and they were looking at them extremely strangely. 

“Peter,” she hissed, kicking him in the side of the leg. “Why are they looking at us?”

Peter’s nose wrinkled as he looked back up at them. Sure enough, Tony and Pepper Stark were looking right at them. 

For some reason a fight or flight instinct came over him as he held his sister’s hand tighter. From that distance he could see there were tears in their eyes. They walked right to them, stopping in front of them. 

“You’re Peter and Penelope, right?” 

Tony frickin’ Stark was talking to them. 

“Penny.”

Peter stared at his sister disbelievingly. “Seriously?” he hissed. “Tony Stark is talking to us and you correct him immediately?”

Penny shrugged at like it was no big deal, looking determinedly haughty. “I hate being called Penelope.” She looked at Tony her posture faltering just a bit. “Just so you know, um, sir. It’s Penny, Mr. Stark.”

Much to their surprise Tony and Pepper chuckle at the girl’s antics. 

“If she’s Penny, are you Pete?” Tony asked giving Peter a billion dollar smile. A smile that made Peter’s cheeks burn hot. 

“Peter is fine- or Pete! R-really whatever is fine, Mr. Stark,” Peter stuttered, not sounding nearly as sure as himself as his sister did. 

Tony and Pepper continued to smile at them brightly. “Well, there’s a room back over here that Sargent Wells said we could use to talk, if that’s okay with you two.”

The twins seemed to pull back from them as they looked at each other, seeming to have a quiet conversation between themselves before looking back at the adults.

“We are waiting on our social worker,” Penny told them, the confidence in her voice slipping. “I don’t know if we’re supposed to go anywhere. No offense, sir. We just don’t really need to end up in more trouble.”

Pepper that spoke this time. “Don’t worry. We have a social worker meeting us in there.”

That did make them feel a little better, despite the fact she said a social worker not their social worker. 

Pepper couldn’t miss how thin they look, too thin. Their faces sunken in slightly and even though most teenagers wouldn’t be caught dead holding their siblings hand, they wouldn’t let go of each other’s. Peter looked so much like Tony, lanky dark hair and brown eyes, but big and doe-ish, filled with innocence. Penelope, or Penny as she preferred, was her own carbon copy. Everything from her sharp blue eyes to her strawberry blonde hair. Except while Pepper’s had been straight her entire life Penny’s fell in loose curls. 

She applauded herself for not immediately bursting into tears at the sight of them. They had no idea who they were and from the conversation with Maria on their drive over, they had a rough life. Their “parents” died in a plane crash when they were five, so shortly after they were taken from them and then they were raised by a paternal uncle and aunt. A year ago they were killed in front of them. Since then they were in foster care. 

She was decidedly focused on the fact that her children were alive, in front of her, and pushing past the bad at the moment.

As the door clicked behind them in the conference room, Tony motioned toward a grey haired woman standing at the table seemingly waiting for them. “Penny, Peter, this is Maxine.”

Both kids looked her over and then looked the couple over again before staring at each other. “We don’t understand,” Peter stated slowly, staying planted in the space by the door. “Do you know Mr. Williams or something? Did he send you here?”

Tony looked thoroughly confused as he shook his head. “Who? No, this is-“

But Peter continued, placing a protective hand in front of his sister. “Because he was lying. I swear!”

“Peter!” Penny hissed at him, grabbing his arm that was in front of her and pulling him back slightly. The two children in front of them were starting to look less like kids and more like cage animals. 

This time Maxine tried. “Mr. Williams has nothing to do with this situation. The case of the assault-“

“There was no assault!” Penny bit back stepping past her brother. “Mr. Williams lied. He always lies! Peter didn’t do anything wrong.”

They were fiercely protective of one another, that was clear. Whatever all they had been through in the past year probably forced that. 

Finally, Pepper stepped up and tried. “It’s alright, sweetheart.” Both teenagers whipped their heads toward her. Their expressions so confused as they seemed to relax slightly at her tone. “I promise, we’re not here about any assault.” 

No one had used such a gentle tone with them in, well, since May died. The tone was so comforting and mothering that for a moment they both were drawn to it. Two sets of eyes just stared at the beautiful woman as if she had walked out of a dream they had once but couldn’t quite remember. 

Pepper offered Penny a hand. “Please, take a seat.”

The girl looked at her hand for a long moment, then back to the woman’s face before slowly taking it. Pepper’s heart soared as she was able to lead Penny to one of the chairs and encourage her to sit. Peter sat right beside her.

A silence fell over the room as everyone looked toward Maxine to begin. “Peter, Penny, I am a special sort of social worker. I work with the FBI when children are displaced or missing.” 

Both kids shifted as they stared at her, their brows furrowed in confusion. It was hard not to watch them as Tony and Pepper took their place across the table. 

“Can I show you two some pictures?” Maxine asked her tone compassionate but oozing professionalism.

They nodded cautiously, watching as she pulled out a folder and several old photos on the table in front of them. Tony and Pepper immediately recognized the photos, after all they had provided them. They were the most recent ones they had at the time when the twins were taken.

Penny moved first. Tony had a feeling that was typical. She seemed to be the one to be the one to take initiative while her brother was more laid back. 

She picked up a picture of she and Peter sitting on the floor of his lab, DUM-E trying to give them one of their toy hammers and they’re laughing hysterically. Her brow was furrowed as she looked at the picture with great concentration. Realization came across her face as her eyes widened and she dropped the picture, almost slamming it down on the table before grabbing another one. 

“What’s wrong?” Peter asked as he more tentatively look. He didn’t bother holding the images, instead kept his hands in his lap and looked at them from their place on the table.

But Penny was already on her third photo, a photo in their bedroom. Peter holding his favorite stuffed animal, a dalmatian dog he named Cookie, while Penny shoved Toodles the bunny toward the camera. 

“What the fuck.”

The pictures were dropped as she shoved herself backward, the chair clattering against the tile floor as it fell. Her hands went to her hair as she stumbled over the fallen chair, barely catching herself as everyone else in the room stood. 

“Penny?”

“Sweetheart-“

“Kid-“

But her head was racing with memories that she thought she had fabricated. She rushed forward and grabbed the picture she held a moment ago with the stuffed animals. “Look!” she demanded to her brother.

Tony and Pepper’s hearts were racing watching. Did this mean she remembered? Did she remember them? They watched anxiously as Peter too stared at the photo but he didn’t seem to get the same emotional reaction.

“They kinda look like we did,” he stated with a shrug.

But Penny shook her head. “No, those are us,” Penny demanded making Tony and Pepper’s heads swim. “Cookie, remember? He smelled like vanilla and Toodles smelled like cinnamon. We took them everywhere. Holy fuck. Why do I remember this?”

Penny grabbed her head again and moved aimlessly. She seemed to be having some sort of breakdown but at the same time was piecing together parts of her life. “Peter, that’s us. That is us and they-“ She motioned toward Tony and Pepper. Her surety faltered, her shoulders slumped as she seemed to be too afraid to admit the complete ridiculousness of the situation.

“They,” Peter stated his tone slightly concerned for his sister’s wellbeing, “are the Starks.” He said it like she didn’t already know that and please needed to quit embarrassing them both.

Tony decided to step in. He took photo Penny had and held in on the table between all of them. “These two kids are Pepper’s and my twins. When they were four, they were taken from our home in Malibu. Their names were Peter James and Penelope Maria.” That alone had Peter speechless, staring at the billionaire a little afraid to breathe. Tony continued. “We searched for years, but never found our kids until less than half an hour ago I got a notification that there was a match for their fingerprints.”

Peter flexed his right hand were the ink was still there. Surely this wasn’t real. Surely this was all some big mistake. This was actually a dream and he was about to wake up and be back in his crummy bed at Jack’s house.

“Your fingerprints.”

Peter and Penny looked at each other, a million different emotions running through them as they stared at the two people in front of them. 

“We’re your kids?” Peter asked still reeling.

Pepper nodded, the tears she had been holding back better than anyone could have finally started to spill. “Yes.”

“Better question, does that mean you want us?” Penny asked her tone attempting to be strong but there was a break in there that showed her fear. 

Tony let out a watery chuckle. “You bet your ass we do.”

In that moment, things changed. Everything changed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for all the reviews!!! I love all the feedback! I can't tell you how many times I deleted this chapter and rewrote it only to still not be able to tell if I like it or not. Hope you all enjoy it though. Also, any mistakes are mine. I tried to edit this with a sick toddler on my lap and it was very difficult.

They had one bag. One singular bag, each, to their name. It consisted of about two pairs of jeans, two pairs of sleep pants, and a handful of t-shirts. There were a few person items in there: pictures of their aunt and uncle, a music box of Penny’s, a watch of Peter’s, but they owned literally next to nothing.

They didn’t complain about anything, even when their hesitation was plain on their face as Pepper and Tony dumped more clothing than they could wear in year and took every interest they mentioned to decorate their rooms. Their manners were impeccable, always saying ma’am and sir, please and thank you. Peter never hesitated to offer help around the house, they kept their rooms clean, and Penny always offered to make dinner.

It absolutely killed Tony and Pepper because they didn’t act like teenagers, they acted like guests. As much as they told themselves they would warm up and eventually seem themselves as family, it just hurt that it wasn’t immediately clear. They just kept reminding each other that they couldn’t to into a family overnight. While their feelings and love for Peter and Penny were still there, the twins had vague pieces of memories at best.

After a week, the twins did start to calm a bit. They didn’t immediately stop what they were doing when Tony or Pepper walked into the room to offer assistance with anything, they started to speak them more normally, their smiles came easier and more relaxed. They started to laugh more freely and even tell jokes. 

After two weeks, Peter was joining Tony in the lab after his own online homework was done. Tony was blown away by his brilliance. He casually asked if Penny would be interested in joining them and Peter seemed unready to answer the question. By the end of the week he found out that Penny would love to join them but she didn’t feel comfortable around adult men, even with Peter nearby. 

So during the third week, Pepper brought her work down to the lab and casually made herself busy. Penny eventually made her way down and joined the chaos that was Tony’s workshop. Much to his pleasure, she was just as brilliant as her brother in incredibly different ways. 

They really were just great kids.

Peter and Penny decide Monday morning they were going to make breakfast for Tony and Pepper for their first day back at work. By Peter and Penny making breakfast, it mostly meant Penny doing the cooking and Peter setting the table.

By now cooking in the Stark kitchen was second nature. As many times as they had assure Penny that there was no need for her to cook, she was used to cooking for families. Ben worked second shift most of the time and Aunt May was a terrible cook, so  
from the time she could use the stove, she did most of the cooking in the house. It went along with her through foster homes where it was much less enjoyable. But here it felt like home again.

The elevator door opened to a mumbling man in a dark suit looking thoroughly pissed. He didn’t even so much as glance toward them before making a hard right and going straight toward Tony and Pepper’s room. “Tony, get your ass out of bed! I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for three days and I know you’ve been screening my calls!”

“Boss’s room has been sound proofed by request. He cannot hear you, Coronel Rhodes,” chimed the ever-friendly FRIDAY from above.

Rhodey gave an incredulous look at the ceiling. “Wha-why? Who sound proofed the room?”

Before FRIDAY could answer Peter piped up. “Uh, I asked her to.” Rhodey spun around so quickly he could have given himself whiplash and stared at the two teenagers.

“We’re not exactly known for being quiet and it’s their first day back to work so we didn’t- um- we just wanted to get as much sleep as possible, Mr. Coronel Rhodes- War Machine, Sir.”

Penny shot a look at her brother before rolling her eyes. He looked like his knees were going to give out at the sight of the veteran/superhero.

Rhodey probably would have smirked at the kid if he wasn’t so damn confused as to why there were two teenagers standing in Tony’s kitchen. He looked them over again, feeling as though something was familiar about them. “Sorry, but who the hell are you two?”

“I’m Penny, that soon to be puddle is Peter.”

Rhodey hummed but then stopped. Penny and Peter. As in Penelope and Peter Stark? “Whoa, wait, you’re-“ he pointed an accusatory finger at them that seemed to have no effect on Penny as she continued to place French toast in the frying pan, but Peter looked like he was going to faint. “You’re Tony’s kids?”

“So we’ve been told.”

Yeah, that girl was Tony Stark's child. She had the attitude of a Stark through and through. At least the boy seemed to be humble.

“Platypus, leave them be,” Tony appeared in the doorway of his bedroom, hair ruffled and still in his pajamas. “The girl can kill you with a single look. What’s happening to Pete?”

“He’s never met a superhero that hasn’t told him he’s his long lost father,” Penny deadpanned making Pepper snort as she pushed past Tony and headed straight for the coffee pot.

Tony gave Penny a nonplus look. “Please ignore that one, she’s not a morning person.”

Peter seemed to choose that moment to get his wits about him and rush over to Rhodey. “It’s a real honor to meet you, sir. You’re just, well, super cool, and in my opinion super underrated. People don’t give you enough credit for all that you do.”

It seemed that Rhodey’s chest puffed out just a bit as he clapped a hand down on Peter’s shoulder, giving Penny a glare. “I always like Peter better. He was always friendlier, even as a kid.”

Pepper tutted as she pointed a finger at Rhodey. “Play nice. Penny and Peter just have their own personalities and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.”

Peter and Pepper snorted. “That’s what May used to say too,” Peter told her, seeming unaffected by bringing up their aunt’s name. “But usually when someone was someone was complaining about one of us not being enough like the other one. Penny not being sweet enough or me not being outgoing enough.”

The idea of people comparing her two children made Pepper’s blood run hot for a moment but she quickly smothered it as Penny offered her a smile and poured her coffee. The attitude the girl possessed was a front, of protection so that they wouldn’t hurt her.

Penny seemed to trust women, especially strong women. She mimicked the traits of strong women when she was scared: straightened her posture, leveled her tone, directed her eye contact. But men she did not trust. First line of defense was the attitude.

Peter was softer all around. He was eager to trust as much as he was afraid to. While Penny was already in some ways clinging to Pepper, Peter played a game of back and forth with them. It seemed every step forward there was a step back, but Tony was the one making the most progress. They both loved science and they could spend the entire day in the lab. Tony would let him help with his suits and Peter would just ramble on the science about it, why he found it amazing. Hours would pass and Pepper would send down snacks but eventually have to call them back for dinner. They both would be on cloud nine for the rest of the evening.

“But when did this happen?” Rhodey asked, motioning toward the two teens again. Penny was back to studiously ignoring him while Peter was still staring at him in awe.

“Three ish weeks ago? Actually, four tomorrow,” Tony stated, giving Pepper a quick kiss as she passed him a cup of coffee.

Four weeks? He had talked to him at least six times in the last three weeks and he had mentioned nothing about the fact he had literally gotten his children back.

“Okay,” Rhodey drew out the word, side eyeing his best friend. “Any reason you didn’t tell me?”

Peter and Penny glanced at Tony who was paying extremely little attention to their guest. He sat in the barstool next to Peter with his Starkpad in hand, flipping through the morning news. The only answer he seemed to be willing to provide the man was a one shoulder shrug.

“Coronel Rhodes, can I get you some coffee?” Penny asked, deciding to take it upon herself to act like a civil human being since her father was going to act like a child. “And would you like to join us for breakfast? I don’t mind making enough for one more.”

The look of total betrayal on Tony’s face was priceless as Pepper beamed at her with pride. “I’m so glad being hopelessly rude is not an inherent trait,” Pepper teased as she helped Penny. 

Peter quickly set one more place at the table (on the other side of him of course) for their guest before he could even refuse. “Come on, Coronel Rhodes. It’s not everyday we get to have breakfast with a superhero!”

The cheeky grin Peter wore had all but Tony giggling. He pointed a finger at the boy. “You wound me, boy. I expect these things from your sister, not you.”

Rhodey couldn’t help but feel the lightness in the air as he watched Tony and Pepper interact with these kids. Before there was a darkness that hungover them, a darkness that they carried ever since they lost Peter and Penelope, but it was gone. Four weeks they had been together and already there was a family chemistry building. 

They wanted time to be a family. 

The thought hit him suddenly as he saw Tony pull Peter in and ruffle his hair and the bacon grease pop sending Penny jumping into Pepper who both laughed. They didn’t need other people coming in and encroaching on them learning how to be around each other, learning how to just be themselves with one another. 

Unexpectedly he felt bad for even joining them for breakfast, but by the look on Peter’s face when he talk to him, they didn’t mind his company in the least. 

“You know,” he said swallowing a bite of French toast, “you guys use to call me Uncle Rhodey.”

Peter’s eyes got the size of saucers while Penny wrinkled her nose and smiled. “Uncle Rhodey?” she repeated, trying it out on her tongue. “Kinda sounds like my uncle is in a motorcycle gang.”

That had Tony almost choking on his coffee as he barked a laugh. 

But Peter shook his head. “No! I like it! Uncle Rhodey, that’s so cool!” 

His sister rolled her eyes. “You only think it’s cool because you can now say you are related to two superheroes, nerd.”

The boy didn’t even try to deny it.

After four weeks of near constant supervision, it felt amazing to dive head first off the balcony in their spider suits. Admittedly it probably wasn’t the best idea since their web fluid had been sitting at room temperature untouched for the better part of that four weeks and they had never tested the shelf life. So far so good. They hadn’t fallen to their deaths yet.

It was clear Queen’s had noticed their absence. Several people on the street stopped to wave at them as they went by, calling out them. Everyone always teased Peter for his awkward sweatshirt and sweats while Penny wore a spandex jumpsuit of sorts with a jacket. 

“Spider Guy! Spider Girl! Haven’t seen you around! Thought you left us!” A black man with a heavy Brooklyn accent called from across the street as they helped an old lady with her groceries into her apartment building. 

“Nah,” Peter called back as Penny tried to refuse the hard butterscotch candies the lady was trying to shove into her pockets. “We just moved. Had to get settled in.”

The man gave an upward nod as he continued to smile. “It’s good to have ya back. Come by my shop at lunch! I still owe you for keeping those punks from stealing my car.”

“Sorry man, can’t. Promised my sister Delmar’s for lunch. Best sandwich’s in Queens!” 

The man shook his head but kept his easy going smile as Penny pulled Peter away by the arm. “Fine, but next time you’re in the mood for barbeque you come to me!”

Penny and Peter laughed good naturedly as they both shot their web shooters toward the sky and swung away. Spider-Man and Spider-Woman were out and about again. The wind felt good cutting through their masks as they swung through the city, almost as if they were flying. They knew they couldn’t stay out long. A few hours at best, but they were going to make the most of it. 

They saved several bikes from getting stolen, caught a guy running away with a woman’s purse, helped an old man change his tire, and some other lack luster tasks. 

Peter flopped down on the roof top across the street from Delmar’s, his mask pulled up above his mouth and half-eaten sandwich in hand. “This is boring. All the good stuff happens in the evening.”

“Yeah, tell that to Pepper and Tony. I’m sure they’ll let us come to Queens at night to fend off muggers and car jackers from the common man,” Penny deadpanned as she took a bite of her own sandwich. 

They both stared out over buildings at nothing in particular. It had been a really great day. It felt like before. None of their foster homes cared where they were as long as they did their chores and were back by curfew. Pepper and Tony hovered. A lot. While it was nice to be so loved, it was hard to keep the whole superhero thing a secret.

“We could tell them,” Peter suggested, but not sounding completely sure in his own words. “Tony is a superhero. He may understand.”

Penny didn’t immediately argue. She had thought a lot about this as well. Logistically, he was right. While she was not the superhero fan he was, she did her own research on the mentality of heroes when Peter suggested they use their powers to help people. Being a superhero was not a selfish act, it was a need to help people. It was sacrificial and surely since Tony was one himself he would understand that it wasn’t something that Peter and Penny could just give up doing.

But then again, they were so-so-so protective. Peter and Penny had to ask FRIDAY all of her protocols just to find out if she was going to rat them out the moment they left the house. 

Peter glanced at his sister, his brows raised. “Woah, you’re actually considering it aren’t you.”

A heavy breath fell from her lungs as she shrugged. “Honestly if we want to do this, I don’t see how we can sneak past an AI, a genius dad, and a mom who lived with Tony Stark’s shit for entirely too long.”

Peter snorted but there wasn’t much humor to it. His gaze turned back toward the skyline as he also sighed. “We probably need to just test the water, right? Break it to them slowly or something?”

“How do you break ‘We have superpowers’ slowly?” 

That was a very good question. Peter thought for a second as he slowly chewed a bite of his sandwich. “Maybe,” he swallowed the bite and shrugged, “maybe we just tell them we have superpowers and then tell them that we’re Spider-Man and Spider-Woman?”

The sandwich wrapper in Penny’s hand crumpled loudly as she stood. “Yeah, cause that’s not going to go over like a lead balloon. Let’s just go see Ned before we get locked in the tower for the rest of our lives.”

At least that sounded like a good idea.

Ned Leeds had been Peter’s best friend since kindergarten. He was a round dark complexed boy who was easily excitable and extremely annoying to Penny, but today she and Peter were both just happy to see a familiar face. 

They climbed the six stories up the fire escape and tapped on the window. Instantly the curtains were thrown back to reveal the giddy face as Ned rushed to open the window. It had been three months since they last saw him and Peter could swear he had gotten a bit taller. 

Ned practically pulled Peter through the window as he bear hugged him, leaving Penny to climb over the cluttered computer desk and deposit herself onto the beanbag chair in the corner of the room. She yelped when her butt found a several Legos already in her seat and cursed Ned for his inability to clean up after himself. 

“Oh my God! I thought you guys were dead! You just dropped off the radar!” Ned began letting go of Peter to pace across his room. “Just poof! You say you had to lay low for a while because your foster dad is a jerk then I don’t hear from you! Then some kid at school says you got arrested? No offense guys but you both would die in there! Then you just call yesterday, out of nowhere and ask if I could cut class this afternoon. Like, what the hell? What the hell, guys?”

Penny huffed and crossed her arms while Peter raised his hands to try and placate his friend. “We’re fine! Really, we just wanted to see you, tell you we’re okay. And that we have a home now. A real home. We’re even starting Midtown next semester.”

The boy’s eyes lit up again as he rushed Peter for another hug. “Oh God! That’s great! You’re going to love it! A home? Where? Did you get adopted?”

Adopted, that would be the simple term. Honestly, they weren’t sure what the legal term was going to be. “Not exactly adopted,” Peter began trying to pry his friend off. “But you’re going to freak out when I tell you. First off, do you still have that chest of stuff we asked you to hold on to? We want to take it to our new parents.”

Furrowing his brow, Ned nodded and motioned vaguely toward his closet. “Yeah, yeah. It’s in there. But tell me. How do you like your new home? Are your new parents nice? Do they know about the spidery stuff?”

Trying to take a relaxing breath, Penny cursed herself for ever allowing Peter to let Ned find out about their secret. Sure, it was helpful to have a place in the city they could go that wasn’t a foster home to change out of their gear, but he annoyed the piss out her. Instead of listening to their conversation, she decided to get the trunk from his closet. 

It was a rather large trunk, so it couldn’t be hard to find. It had to take up a large part of the floor space of his closet.

And it did, but it was buried under pile of clothes, Legos, action figures, board game pieces, and every other thing that could possibly live in a teenage boy’s room. With a growl, she gave the trunk a sharp tug and ignored the sound of everything else hitting the ground as the pulled the trunk up off the ground and out of the closet. Superior strength had its benefits. 

“OH MY GOD! TONY STARK IS YOUR DAD?”

Christ. 

Pepper was more than ready to be home. She managed to wrap her board meeting up in record time and for the first time in history was leaving the office before her husband. It was nice that the office was literally down floors below her home. One would think that meant she could take an hour and grab lunch with her children, but that would mean having an hour without someone in her office, which did not happen ever. 

So by four-thirty, she was shoving people out of her office and heading for the private elevator. They would order in tonight, that way Penny wouldn’t need to make dinner no matter how often she said she didn’t mind doing it, and Pepper was going to hug them the moment she saw them.

God she missed them. As much as she loved being CEO, a part of her wanted to take more time off just to be with them, learn more about them. She missed ten years, she didn’t want to miss anymore. 

Logically, she knew this feeling would pass, and while she knew she didn’t have to work she loved working and would regret terribly giving it up. Not to mention she would judge any other CEO terribly because she knew no one could run her family’s company as well as her.

Shaking her head, she refocused herself as the elevator doors opened to the pent house. Instantly she was a little thrown off by the emptiness of the main room. Typically this was where Penny and Peter set up camp for the day. Peter would play videogames while Penny read on her Starkpad. It was entirely possible they were in their rooms.

“Peter? Penny? I’m home,” she called as she continued her way inside, depositing her briefcase on the bar. 

“Welcome home, Mrs. Stark,” FRIDAY greeted pleasantly from above. “Peter and Penny have left for the day.”

Pepper’s head jerked up toward the voice. “What do you mean ‘left’?”

“They stated they had errands to run and would return before your usual time of arrival home from work: six PM.”

A mix of anxiety and anger rushed through Pepper’s veins as she felt her heart rate increase. “Did they say where they were going?” 

“I did not ask.”

Pepper could feel her face growing hot as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and fished her laptop out of her bag. She held her phone between her shoulder and ear as she furiously typed on her laptop, pulling up the Starkphone Locater.

“Yes, dear?” Tony purred, sounding like he had been in the middle of something he was clearly glad she interrupted.

“Peter and Penny aren’t here,” she informed him, her voice hard and focused as the watched the computer work. 

“What?” The playfulness in his voice was gone. She had his full attention.

“FRIDAY says they left and planned to be back before I got home, but I don’t know if I want to wait. According to Penny’s phone they’re in an apartment in Queens.”

“I’ll send Happy there. I’m pulling it up now and I’ll send it to him.”

Pepper stopped and looked up from the computer. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. It wasn’t like they were running away. They were planning on coming back. They just needed to get out for a minute. 

They weren’t small children. They were teenagers. Teenagers who grew up a lot differently than they probably would have raised them and they were used to having freedom and privacy. Oh God, they probably felt so suffocated the last few weeks and had taken it like champs.

“No,” Pepper stated, letting out a sigh and closing her laptop. “No, don’t. Just let them come home on their own time.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. “Are you sure, Pep? Happy can throw them in the trunk and get them home in half an hour.”

A humorless chuckle cracked out her throat. “And they’d hate us for it. They need some room to breathe, Tony. They’re teenagers.” 

She ended the call before he could hear the choke on the single sob. They were teenagers. They weren’t little children anymore, they were learning how to be adults now and she was robbed of her chance to hover on the playground, to kiss scraped knees, to host slumber parties and paint toenails. 

While she wanted those days back, she couldn't get them. She had to raise the teenagers she had and not the children she wanted.

Superior strength was handy, but lugging a five foot trunk from Queens to the tower was a nightmare. They looked like they were moving a dead body. At one point they were really tempted to call a cab but then they realized it didn’t fit in the back of the cab either. 

“At least it’s not heavy?” Peter offered as they shoved it into the elevator, ripping off his mask.

“Say that one more time and I going to punch you.” Penny pulled off her own mask and popped a piece of the butterscotch candy the old lady had shoved at her into her mouth and glared straight ahead. “You better hope Tony and Pepper don’t watch YouTube as many people had to video Spider-Man and Spider-Woman carrying this thing down the sidewalk.”

“Just pick up your side,” Peter grumped back as the elevator door opened. 

Peter took the lead as Penny lifted the back. After only a few steps, Peter stopped having Penny nearly run over him. 

“Christ Peter, what the he—”

She looked past him to see Tony and Pepper standing at the bar, both with their arms crossed and their brows furrowed. 

Oh, this certainly wasn’t good. 

Carefully they sat down the trunk and moved to be next to each other, absently finding one another’s hands.

There were several things Tony and Pepper took notice of. The most noticeable was the giant chest they were caring. It looked to be solid wood, so definitely not light, but the twins didn’t seem to have any trouble carrying it. They weren’t even breaking a sweat. The other very noticeable bit was their attire. Peter looked like he just walked off set of some low budget action film where Penny may have been a stunt double. 

The last thing they noticed, and perhaps the thing that got to them the most, was the twin’s sudden look of fear at the sight of them and the need to find each other. They had seen it before when they were in the police station weeks ago. It was like they were afraid Tony and Pepper were going to send them away.

“Where were you?” Tony asked, his voice firm as he stared hard into the twins, staying firm despite the emotion that shook him briefly.

“Queens.” The answers came quick and crisp from Penny’s mouth as she held fiercely onto her brother’s hand. 

At least they weren’t lying, Tony thought as he slowly moved closer. “What were you doing in Queens?”

“Visiting our friend.” This time Peter spoke. He seemed to move up just a bit, angling himself between Tony and Penny. 

Tony’s brow raised just a bit. “Does this friend have a name?”

“Ned Leeds. We’ve known him since kindergarten.”

Tony hummed and glanced over his shoulder at Pepper who was only watching silently. She had been abnormally quiet since he had gotten home and even now just seemed to be staring anxiously between him and their kids. 

“What’s in the case?”

Both kids moved closer to the trunk. “Stuff,” they said in unison. Peter kept his eye contact while Penny seemed to look toward Pepper. 

His eyes narrowed. Okay, he’d come back to that one. “What’s up with the getups? No offense kid but you look pretty dumb.”

That had Peter pulling a face and Penny suppressing a grin. Letting out a breath Peter raised both his hands in front of him. “Look, we didn’t leave to cause problem, we actually left to make less of them. Can we call a truce for like, twenty minutes and if you still want to yell at us you can?”

Tony squinted at him for a long moment then shrugged. “What the heck. I’m not really good at this stuff anyway. As long as we agree if there are no really great reasons for this disappearing act you both are grounded for a week. And I will figure out what grounded consists of when I think of it.”

Peter rolled his eyes as he motioned for Penny to take the other end of the trunk again and they carried it into the living room. 

Pepper and Tony took a seat on the couch as the twins fumbled with the rolling lock. “It’s Ben’s birthday!” Penny hissed as she stuck a finger in only to get swatted away. “You have the year wrong!”

“I do not!”

“Yes you do!” Peter tugged on the lock and nothing happened, making his sister look smug. “It’s a six not an eight, dummy.”

He shoved her back and she shoved him too. They started to shove shoulders, both fumbling for the lock.

“Children!” Pepper scolded lightly ceasing the activity before they had a full blown shoving war on their hands. Both twins looked up with a light blush on their cheeks and smiled at her shyly. She couldn’t help but smile back and it was enough to lift her spirit at least a little.

Finally the trunk clicked open and Peter and Penny opened it. Tony and Pepper weren’t sure what they expected, but they couldn’t have expected what they recieved. It was a well organized trunk labeled from Kindergarten to seventh grade. One side was Penny’s, one side was Peter’s and on the lid was a collage of photos. Peter, Penny, Ben and May just being a family. 

Pepper immediately got on her knees to get closer.

“We thought, in case we ever got adopted, someone might want this,” Penny explained, moving over so that Pepper could get a good look at everything. “May kept all our school projects and pictures. First and last day of school pictures too. All kinds of stuff. She just really like to make sure everything was always documented for memories.”

Penny reached out and touched a picture of Peter and Penny dressed up for Halloween. Peter was dressed up as Iron Man, holding his hand out ready to blast his sister who was dressed up as FBI Agent Dana Scully. They couldn’t have been older than eight or nine. 

“Our friend Nate was holding onto it for us,” Peter explained. “But trust me, we couldn’t take you to his house.”

Penny groaned and shook her head. “My ears are still ringing from him just finding out that Tony Stark is our dad.”

Tony grinned as he joined his wife on the floor, reaching into the trunk and taking out one of the photo albums. He flipped through it, admiring how it was clear how very loved they were even if it wasn’t by them. May and Ben Parker, while not their parents clearly did right by them.

“Okay,” Tony stated nodding approving. “I get it. I like it. But what about the dumb clothes.”

By the look on the twins’ faces, they had hoped the trunk would be enough of a distraction to maybe put a pin in that. Penny took a deep breath as she rubbed the back of her neck and glanced at her brother. 

“Okay, so want me to rip off the bandaid or try to make this as painless as possible?”

Pepper and Tony glanced between each other before the stood up, closing the trunk as they did so. They were back in defensive posture. 

“Living with Tony, rip off the bandaid, kiddo. It’s easier on everyone,” Pepper informed them but already looked exhausted. 

The twins exchanged looks again and Peter motioned his hand out as if it was Penny’s job now to break the news. “Have you ever heard of Spider-Man and Spider-Woman?”

Both Pepper and Tony looked confused but then a realization slowly came across Tony’s face. “Actually yeah, vaguely. Two vigilante super kids. FRIDAY pinged them about four months ago but then they went MIA--- wait…”

Penny and Peter both smile guiltily as Tony stared at them and Pepper immediately walked past them toward the kitchen mumbling about needing wine. 

“You’re the spider kids? But you’re actual kids. They were supposed to be in college not barely in high school!”

“We didn’t choose these powers,” Peter told him quietly, but seriously. “But when we got them, we had just lost our aunt and uncle and were getting beat up every day in the foster system. We had the ability to help people so we did.”

“We didn’t have to tell you,” Penny stated, her tone more severe than her brother. “We could have lied. We’ve lied to protect ourselves a lot, but we thought you of all people would understand. You’re Iron Man.”

Tony flinched. For a brief moment there he thought she would say he was their father. That they wouldn’t lie because they trusted him, but that was wishful thinking on his part. There was trust building, the trunk proved that, but sometimes the things they said he just wished they said differently.

“I hear you, just give me a minute,” Tony snapped effectively silencing the twins. 

Peter quickly obeyed, his eyes wide as if waiting for Tony’s approval while Penny glared. 

“Of course, we understand.”

The three of them whipped around to see Pepper standing at the bar. She pushed an unopened bottle of wine further away from herself and looked at her children.

“You can’t change who you are. I wanted to change your father a lot. It killed me to watch him throw himself in harm's way over and over again, but eventually I had to accept that it’s part of who he is, a part that I love about him even though it scares me.” She smiled softly at Tony and he quirked a smile back. 

“But right now, you both are going to change clothes. We’re going to order some food. You’re dad is probably going to plan some more stylish and safer suits for you both, and then we’re going to sit and check out everything in that trunk. Is that clear?”

Peter and Penny smiled brightly at her, both darting across the room and straight into her arm. 

She looked up at Tony in surprise who only continued to smile at her. He gave her a mock salute as he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and immediately started to build a diagram for the next Spider Suits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your reviews really helped me power through my writers block! A little support goes a long way! <3

**Author's Note:**

> I would love to hear your opinions.


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